Robot 6

Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Legal | Attorneys today told a judge in Macomb County, Mich., that they don’t know when the state supreme court will rule on a prosecutor’s appeal for a new trial for retailer Michael George, whose murder conviction was overturned in September.

A jury in March had found George guilty of the 1990 shooting of his first wife Barbara in the back room of the couple’s Clinton Township comic-book store. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The 48-year-old George, who has remained in jail pending the top court’s ruling, was brought into court this morning in a wheelchair, apparently too weak to walk. He’s reportedly lost 50 pounds since his conviction last March.

Publishing | The feud continues between Asterix co-creator Albert Uderzo and daughter Sylvie Uderzo over the future of the popular comic character, with the 81-year-old illustrator calling the accusations “quite undignified.”

Earlier this month Sylvie Uderzo publicly criticized her father for selling his stake in Asterix books’ parent company to Hachette Livre, and authorizing the French publisher to continue the series after his death.

Sylvie Uderzo, who retains 40-percent ownership, characterized her father as being manipulated by his advisers. That doesn’t sit well with the elder Uderzo.

“What has been given away is nothing more than shares in a publishing company, Editions Albert-Rene, that I set up in 1979,” Albert Uderzo said in a statement obtained by Agence France-Presse. “The accusation made against me is not only inspired by the appetite for power, it also aims to insult Asterix readers by confusing my abilities as an author with that of a publishing house shareholder.” [AFP]